Adopted Dog Snuggling With Owner on Couch Will Melt Your Cold Heart

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, this photo is worth one: "Awwwwwww."

This photo of a young lady sitting on a couch while her dog wraps his paws around her.

The pooch in question is named Russ, a four-year-old pit bull that had been living at an animal shelter in Philadelphia called ACCT Philly.

Kayla Filoon is the lucky woman who wound up with Russ. She had been volunteering as a dog walker at ACCT Philly and fell in love with him:

He came in as a stray, and he was really beat up. He was missing fur on his tail and ears. He was also terribly skinny. They told me he was about 40 pounds when he came into the shelter....He was just sitting there calmly, staring at me. And I thought, 'He is adorable! I need to take him now.'"

She talked to her mom and then moved quickly to bring Russ, who had been battling kennel cough, home.

As for the photo, Filoon, who hopes it will inspire others to adopt dogs, says, "One night I'm sitting there on the chair, doing my homework, and he's trying to find ways to cuddle with me. There was a whole other sofa open, and we had his bed on the floor, but he didn't want to lie anywhere else. So he ends up positioning himself, and I look down, and I think, "Oh my gosh, look at him.'"